When you propose the closing of a school building, that brings strong emotions from the people who went there and the families with children that are attending now. USD 365 has proposed closing Greeley Elementary, citing declining enrollment, which has dropped to only 46 students in grades K-6, and a big need for maintenance and repair. USD Board President Adam Caylor, says it is twice as expensive to educate a student at Greeley Elementary as compared to a student at Garnett Elementary school, when costs were broken down on a per head basis, and that is something they have to take into serious consideration.
Caylor says it wasn’t practical for the district to use new tax money to shore up old buildings. The future of Greeley Elementary and, to a some degree Westphalia Elementary, have been up in the air since at least 1987, when voters district-wide decided 2-1 to keep the Greeley School open in a special referendum. At that time Westphalia’s enrollment was expanding, but both schools have faced an uncertain future each time the issue of district facilities has been proposed. The January 8th public hearing is the first step in the closure processed. It will be held at 7:15 that evening at Ray Meyer Gym in Garnett.
